The Lady Loves her Coffee
by Dan Breaddy
Summary: Post-Hogwarts. Ginny Weasley, a free-lance writer and report meets someone from Hogwarts that takes her by surprise. A nice little surprise. What role does coffee and Family Circle play?


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Disclaimer: Ha ha, I own nothing, isn't that funny (actually, it's not, but it's more comical then 'No profit is made from this story.... Blah.... Something about Rowling.... Blah)

Ginny Weasley, 20 years of age, sat at the small café table with her coffee, newspaper, and notebook. She, unlike most of the British population, detested tea and was rather fond of coffee. Maybe it was the high caffeine content or the bitter taste, or the fact that it made her seem more mature (when you're the youngest out of 7 siblings, you take what you can get), she didn't know, but her brothers, and parents, now that she thought of it, thought that she was strange. She had always been the oddball of the family. Instead of taking up a job with the Ministry or in the magical community, like the rest of her family, she became a free-lance writer and reporter. After her first year at Hogwarts, she discovered that she had a talent and a passion for writing, through a rather unfortunate event, and she had already visited many parts of the world, writing stories and articles. She had also discovered that writing also had great pay and an almost non-existent deadline. She wrote whenever the muses moved her to write. (A/N: that there is the guideline that I live by!)

She fixed her ponytail and opened the paper. It was the usual, murders and bank robberies, the Prime Minister said this, the queen did that. She smiled as she saw her article. It was an article that mocked the irony of how most of the general public fussed and fought over, and worst yet, imitated the little things that important social figures did. The article made an excellent point, she thought, of how society worshipped these figures. Ginny had thought of her early Hogwarts school years, worshipping Harry Potter and her brothers, and so this article had a special meaning to her. She, in her 3rd year, realized that she was being stupid, that Harry wasn't interested in her, and the rest of her time at Hogwarts had been the 4 best years of her life. And besides, after she opened her eyes, she realized how many cute guys there were in Hogwarts. There was one, especially, but she never admitted it til she was out of Hogwarts; Ron would've had a cow.

She had her curly red hair straightened and it was in a low ponytail at the base of her neck. It was about 65 degrees out today and she wore kacki pants, loose but not baggy and a white tank top that she had picked up on a trip to New York. She took a sip of her coffee as she read the comics.

"Excellent article there, Weasley." A shadow fell on her paper and Ginny looked up. "Suppose you wrote it in mind of how you worshipped Potter."

"Exactly right Malfoy. I'm glad you liked it," she said. Indeed, the figure was none other than Draco Malfoy. He took that as an invitation to sit down. He was taller than she remembered, and he was in shape, she could see the muscles in his arm. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His silver hair was still the same, she could see, and was still back like she remembered. He had in his hand a copy of the paper. "How's life been treatin' you, Malfoy?" She smiled. Malfoy had never especially targeted her for teasing, and therefore had no real reason to hate him. He sipped his drink. "Been worse, been better."

"Oh so?" she asked, looking up from Family Circle. He nodded. "Pansy dumped me."

"Really? I never knew you two were even going out."

"Yeah for a while, anyways, but she dumped me for Seamus Finnagin, who, ironiclly, is a English Wizard firefighter." Ginny wasn't surprised that he was a firefighter; he had some... eh... mishaps during his 7 years at Hogwarts.

"Do you know what Harry's been up to?" Malfoy asked abruptly. "I mean, after he defeated Voldermolt," he added. Ginny

smiled as she pretended to think. "The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th time?" He laughed. "The latest."

"Ah... I have no clue," she said calmly as she drank her coffee. "What?" asked Malfoy puzzled. "Did you READ the article, Malfoy?" she asked. "Course, Weasley. Did you answer my question?"

"Yeah. I said I had no clue nor do I care."

"What?"

"Malfoy, do you think that I look like Harry's personal secretary?" He considered that for a second. Ginny smiled. "Look, my crush on Harry is so 3rd year." Malfoy still appeared to be shocked. "Wh.. how?"

"Found myself a river, built me a bridge, and got over it. Or cried, whatever it is; worked for me, why don't you try it? And... now if you'll excuse me, I think that I'll have a walk around in the park. Would you like to join me?" She stood up and put the correct number of muggle pounds on the café table. "Boyfriend get mad?" he asked, but stood up anyways. Ginny laughed at the thought. "Probably, considering if I had one."

"No boyfriend?"

"No boyfriend."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Do I hear an echo?" he asked, putting his money on the table. She rolled her eyes and took a few steps and turned back. "Coming?" He answered by jogging up to her and muttering "Stupid muggle pounds."

"You think this is hard? Try Mexican pesos, American dollars, and Japanese yen."

"No, thanks, I'm suddenly content with the bucks."

The park was nearby the small café where they had been drinking. It had a bubbling fountain and park benches, a small stream, trees, a playground, and of course, the over-weight, strolling-and-whistling constable.

Ginny felt a little excited; she couldn't help it. If Ron found out what she was doing, moreover, who she was with, he'd have a cow. Yes, Ginny discovered Draco's existence in the middle of her 3rd year and had a hard time liking anyone else. Much as the bastard that he was, he was too darn sexy for Ginny to ignore.

"Malfoy, why have you changed so much?" she asked, contemplating his sudden (ok, not so sudden but surprising) change in attitude. "What do you mean?"

"Um... no 'we're too poor' cracks, and 'my hair is too red' and you haven't insulted my family or Harry or Hermione..."

"Do you want me to start? Cause if you want to, I can." Ginny smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "No, it's just that the change is... unexpected. It's not a bad thing, but this isn't your ordinary 'change your underwear' change. It's more of a 'burlap to cashmere' change. And you with asking me about Harry. I'm 20 years old; don't you think that I'm a little OLD for puppy dog crushes?"

"I felt compelled to make sure that you were single before I made my move." Ginny felt her heart skip a beat. "Wh-What would that be?"

"This." With that, Draco swooped down and captured her lips, right in the middle of the park, for the world to see. And no matter what the world said, right now, everything was just right. Perhaps it was the coffee.


End file.
